Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Photo Update: Miami-Nassau

We're back on dry land again. Our last night in Miami we went over to my dad's friend Merrick's house for dinner and very potent drinks. We had heard from my dad that Merrick was a character and he certainly didn't let us down. He was cooking the largest steaks the world has ever seen and his bachelor pad was, well just that. He told us stories about his involvement in just about every sport that involved speed and danger. And at 50 something he is still racing all sort of vehicles. He told us that he once made it from Miami to Nassau which is about 40 miles in 42 minutes, in some kind of speedboat. After dinner we returned to the boat and got about 5 hours of sleep.

We woke up at four, loaded the dinghy and were in the gulf stream by sunrise. We motor sailed across not because we had to but because "cruising" for most to the old people that do it is just motoring with the option to sail. I wasn't psyched about the motoring but we sailed the rest of the way without motoring so that was good. Beth, my mom and I all got a little sea sick but nothing too serious.

Once in Nassau we got to deal with my parents frantic panicked customs show. It had been a long 36 hours of sailing and everyone was a little on edge. The next day we went to a bay around the west side of the island, cleverly named west bay. And then the next day my dad was afraid of weather so we sailed right back to nassau. Now we are back in Hueco Tanks TX climbing like crazy. Beth is really close to climbing T-Bone Shuffle, a very intricate V4. I had a great day today, climbing Daily D Dose V7 and flashing a new highball climb called Guns of Navarone V7. I cannot say I agree with the grade, it seemed easier to me, but it is my style so who knows.

Swimming in West Bay

French toast and the boat is pretty heeled over, note the egg mixture.